The Trick Of The Matter
by Eternal Love Song
Summary: Thor finds out about Loki and Sif's relationship and has a difficult time deciding how to approach the matter... before deciding to just approach the matter.


Thor was very nervous. He spent the early part of the day pacing his room, fighting his thoughts, storming to Loki's room only to stop at the door and make his way back to his own quarters, mind filled with agitation. He had asked to speak with Loki later, had decided to confront this situation... calmly. But Thor was having a very hard time being calm.

He had lifted and set down Mjolnir so many times, made so many aborted actions with it, that it finally seemed to grow tired of Thor's attention and zapped him when next he reached for it. Thor looked at his hammer with sadness and betrayal, but left the weapon where it was.

Thor was not good at being patient. He ended up pacing the halls between his room and his brother's until he couldn't take it anymore and finally knocked on Loki's door.

The door opened, but Loki was no where in sight. Thor took a cautious step forward, looking around for his brother's form. "Loki?"

"I'm at my desk, Thor," Loki replied.

Thor closed the door behind him, before going further into his brother's room. Loki's work space was the furthest area from the door, past both the sitting area and bedroom. There were papers and books spread across the desk and Loki didn't bother looking up when Thor entered.

"Brother? Are you busy?" Thor questioned.

"I am always busy, Thor," Loki answered. "But how could I hope to get any work done when you keep marching up to my done as if you meant to challenge it to a duel?"

Thor winced at the jab. He knew that Loki often used magic to monitor his rooms, but Thor had been hoping that since he had not actually knocked, Loki would remain ignorant to Thor's constant indecisive jaunts to and fro. Loki's voice was free from consternation, but Thor knew that it was there. Were it not, Loki would not have mentioned it in such a way. He couldn't help the increased nervousness that filled him, shuffling for side to side on his feet and rubbing his arms agitatedly.

Loki sighed, closing the book in front of him and tidying up his work space before turning to Thor. He crossed one leg over the other, clasp his hands in his lap, and met Thor's eyes with a blank expression. "Out with it, brother. I've no desire to listen to you shuffling behind me like an excited toddler."

Now that he was here, Thor wasn't actually sure how to broach the subject. His eyes roamed away from Loki's face, looking for anything to help him begin this conversation. "Um, what are you working on brother?"

Loki gave him a flat expression. "Truly?" he asked in a disbelieving voice. "I am certain that you have less than no interest in what I am working on, Thor. Whatever you came to say, I would appreciate it if you would just say so."

"Okay," Thor said.

A stretch of silence followed his words. Loki arched an eyebrow at him.

Thor began to pace. "So, the other day mother sent me on an errand."

"A story?" Loki questioned. His lips quirked up in amusement and he relaxed his position, sitting back in his chair. "Very well. I shall indulge you if you need, brother. What errand did mother require of you?"

"She was looking for a particular tome, something rare and magical, I think," Thor continued. "She wished to send you, but you had made yourself unavailable and she was unable to get away herself to search for such a thing. She send me into the grand library with instructions on where I could perhaps find the tome that she wished."

"That must have been hard for you, Thor," Loki said with a smirk. "All those books must have been like a maze to you."

Despite the anxiousness inside him, Thor found himself smiling at Loki. The smile was a little wobbling, perhaps, but it was true. "Indeed. I have not set foot inside the library since we stopped having lessons there and that which mother desired seemed to be at the heart of an insidious layout."

Loki chuckled. "Even I shall admit that the layout is less than intuitive. I am surprised she thought that you could find something so hidden."

"As you may have guess, I began quite lost."

"Naturally."

"And I stumbled upon something that I did not expect to find."

"I assume that is the point to this story," Loki said.

"Can you imagine what it is that I found, Loki?" Thor asked. He stopped pacing to give his brother a searching look. "Two nights ago, in the library? Does that sound familiar to you at all?"

Loki raised an eyebrow once more. "I've no idea what you meant to be hinting at, Thor."

Thor ran a hand through his hair in frustration before deciding to just be straight with it. "I saw you, brother! I saw you with Sif!"

Loki blinked, twice. "Oh, that. What of it?"

Thor's eyes widened. "What of it?" He repeated. "It was you and Sif! How can you respond so flippantly?"

Loki shrugged. "How am I meant to respond? Did you expect that I would demure like a blushing maiden?"

"How could you have not told me?" Thor demanded. "It is you! And Sif! How long has this been... How did this... Why did you not tell me?"

Loki stared at him for a moment. "Why was I meant to tell you?"

Thor's expression became one of utter disbelief. "I find you locked in a secret embrace with one of my comrades and closest companions and you feel there is no reason for you to have informed me of such a thing?"

"Simple speaking, Thor, yes," Loki answered. "I find no reason that I should have informed you of such." Loki turned back around to face his desk. "But please do me a favor and get the door."

Thor frowned at him for a long moment before going toward the door. "This is not over, Loki."

Loki chuckled. "Oh, I am aware."

Thor remained frowning as he marched toward the door and pulled it open. His jaw dropped in surprise as he saw Sif standing there, hands on her hip and foot tapping impatiently. "Sif?"

"What is the meaning of this, Thor?" Sif demanded as she stomped pass him.

"Wha... The meaning of what?" Thor asked, confused as he spun around to face her. The door closed behind him on it's own.

"Why did you come to Loki first?" Sif demanded.

Thor was too taken off guard to know what Sif was talking about. "I find myself at a loss in these proceedings," Thor admitted.

"Why did you come to Loki first when you found out about us?" Sif demanded. "If it had been Fandral that you discovered him with, you would have went to him first, wouldn't you? Or Hogun? Why it is that when it is me, you do not come to talk to me directly?"

"I... Did Loki..."

"Don't change the subject!" She commanded. "Were you going to try and protect my virtue?" Thor could hear the venom in the question and took a step back.

"I simply wanted an answer," Thor said.

"From Loki. But not from me?" Sif asked.

"You are more frightening than Loki!" Thor admitted.

Sif paused, blinking in confusion. "Oh."

"Told you!" Loki yelled from the other room.

"What is... What is this?" Thor asked. He looked toward Loki's room, though his brother could not be seen from the doorway."

Sif seemed embarrassed now that she'd calmed down, nervous pushing back her face and avoiding his gaze. "Loki and I made a wager over how you would react once you found out about us," she admitted. "I told him that you would come to me first because of our companionship and he begged to differ. I did not consider, even when he told me, that you would find me the more intimidating conversationalist."

"I am honestly uncertain how you believed anything else," Thor told her. "My brother is not known to fly into rages mid conversation and I never know that I need fear his reaction until it is already too late to avoid."

Loki laughed from the other room.

Thor frowned again, but Sif's expression lightened. "I am... sorry that I misjudged you, Thor."

"I take no offense," he answered. A pause, then, "Wait, you two planned this?"

Loki's laughter became louder and heartier.

Sif smiled guiltily. "You are the first to know," she told him.

Given the circumstances, Thor wasn't sure that that made him feel any better. In fact, if this was how they solved problems together, Thor wasn't sure he was as enthusiastic about this union as he otherwise may have been. Perhaps this was a disaster in the making, for Thor, at least.


End file.
